Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 495: The Invasion of Madagascar

End of August 1885
The Chu State's East African expeditionary force held a grand oath-taking ceremony in Djibouti, beheaded 22 black slaves who tried to escape on the spot, sacrificed their blood to the flag, and the entire army set out on the expedition.

With the two ironclad ships "Zhenxi" and "Zhenbei" as the backbone, they led an escort fleet consisting of 8 ironclad cruisers, escorting a task force consisting of as many as 14 troop ships and 5 cargo ships, and marched southward in a mighty manner.

8 days later
April 1885, 4, around 6: p.m.

The fleet of the Chu expeditionary force that invaded Madagascar arrived at the sea off the coast of Antsiranana Port, the northernmost port of Madagascar Island. The huge ships that arrived were so huge that they blocked out the sky and the sun, and each one was as big as a mountain.

The huge scene scared the locals so much that they all ran away in terror.

The French merchant living here rushed out of the house in a hurry. Looking at the huge fleet on the sea, his heart felt as if it had sunk into an ice cave. He knew that France's ambition to colonize this island might be in vain.

First, several armored cruisers of more than 3,600 tons were the first to dock. Hundreds of fully armed sailors poured out from the warships and quickly occupied this small port.

After measuring the water depth, the troop transport ship with a shallower draft was the first to dock and unload personnel and a large amount of weapons and equipment, including more than 120 trucks and more than 200 horses and mules.

These trucks were used to carry fully armed soldiers for rapid assaults along the main roads, dividing and occupying towns along the way, and guiding the continuous arrival of subsequent troops.

Those unloading at Antsiranana Port were mainly all officers and soldiers from the newly formed 13th Division of Xi'an Prefecture on Shangri-La Island, totaling more than troops, equipped with a field artillery battalion and a cavalry battalion to strengthen assault and siege forces.

The remaining main fleet did not stay long. In the dark early morning of the next day, they left the port one after another following the navigation lights on the mastheads, and headed south along the east coast of the island.

A day and a half later

The main invading fleet arrived outside the port of Tamatave on the east coast and landed successfully again. It also transported a total of 2.36 people from the Expeditionary th Division and the newly formed th Division to the shore. This was the main force of the Madagascar expedition, commanded by Lieutenant General Pan Tianshou himself.

After landing

The main force of the Chu army quickly occupied this eastern coastal port with less than 7,000 residents, and the cavalry advanced to tightly block the roads in and out of the port of Tamatave to delay the leakage of news.

Even if the news of foreign invasion has reached Antananarivo, the capital of the Kingdom of Madagascar, it may not be confirmed, causing the other party to miss the precious opportunity due to hesitation.

The remaining fleet, boarded by the last military force of more than 10,000 people, continued southward. After rounding the southernmost tip of Madagascar Island, it turned north along the coastline.

The destination was the southern port of Tulear, thus realizing the three-pronged offensive plan, cutting the entire island of Madagascar into three parts and gradually eroding and destroying it.

Now at this time

The entire Kingdom of Madagascar has long lost the unity it had during the reign of Queen Ranavalona I in the mid-19th century, and has become torn apart by internal disputes.

This strong-willed native queen united the nation's strength and, through tenacious struggle, repelled the colonial attempts of the British and French forces and defended the interests of the kingdom.

This was a rare victory for Africa in its resistance against colonial powers, but unfortunately it was only a flash in the pan.

In 1862, King Radama II came under pressure and signed a "Treaty of Friendship and Commerce" with France, which gave France the right to develop Madagascar's natural resources.

However, the unequal treaty aroused popular discontent, which led to an uprising, the overthrow and execution of the king, and the new king, Razohrina, abolished the treaty.

To prevent French retaliation, Madagascar first signed a trade agreement with Britain and then signed an agreement with France in an attempt to achieve a balance of power between the two countries.

However, this trick was quickly discovered by the French.

In 1883, the French government violated the previous agreement and demanded that Madagascar cede the land north of 16 degrees south latitude and place its foreign affairs under French control.

Faced with France's tough demands, the Merina royal family of Madagascar could not refuse and could only respond with perfunctory excuses.

At the stalemate
The Chu army from the north surged in like a tide, and divided into three groups to forcibly land at important ports in the north, central and south of Madagascar Island, and captured cities along the way, igniting war everywhere.

After the expeditionary force arrived, the ironclad fleet, led by the Zhenxi and Zhenbei ironclad ships, changed its mission to carry out the blockade.

The fleet blockaded important ports along the coast of Madagascar, severing its maritime links with the African continent.

After carrying a large number of local prisoners of war and women, the immigration ships and transport ships immediately returned to the jurisdiction of the East African Company, docking at Dinghai Port, Mingyue City and Jiawan Port respectively.

These immigrant ships were used to carry a large number of militiamen for the next transportation, continuing to move south to reinforce the East African Expeditionary Force and consolidate the comprehensive military occupation of Madagascar Island.

On the return journey, tens of thousands of indigenous male and female captives would continue to be transported to supplement the human resources of the East African colonies, and this cycle would continue.

Captured men can be used to work in the fields, and captured women can be sold at a good price in the human market to offset the corresponding high costs of war mobilization.

The memorandum reached between Lieutenant General Pan Tianshou, commander-in-chief of the East African Expeditionary Force, and the East African Company showed that the military would escort 40 prisoners free of charge, half of them men and half of them women, to the East African Company to cover various expenses and provide certain compensation.

The East African Company was responsible for all food, meat and logistical supplies for the expeditionary force during the military operations, provided transportation, more than 4 militiamen and more than war horses, as well as other necessary support.

If you really count it, this is a huge investment.

The mobilization of these 4-odd Chinese militiamen alone caused the East African Company to lose the backbone of 4 Chinese families. It will probably be difficult to get them back once they arrive in Madagascar.

It is reasonable for the expeditionary force to make appropriate compensation.

After all, the East African Expeditionary Force is one party and the East African Company is the other. The two sides do not interfere with each other, and there is no reason for one side to make unilateral contributions.

One is responsible to the military and the other is responsible to the Colonial Office. Even if the East African Company obtains this group of young captives, no bureaucrat will put the benefits into his own pocket.

It is still used for colonial construction, including the current urgent Natural Scarp Project. Due to the high-intensity labor, thousands of people are consumed every month and need to be constantly replenished.

This is a major maritime defense project personally designated by His Majesty the King. Even if the East African Governor's Office had another brain, it would not dare to delay the construction period and could only work these black slaves to death at all costs.

At the end of March

In the main fortress in the mountainside of the main island of Pilin and the secondary fortress on the Seven Brothers Island of the Tianqian Project, the main passages running through the mountainside have been fully opened, and have the initial ability to place the fortress's heavy artillery.

At the current stage, more manpower is being invested in promoting the second phase of construction. Based on the main passage in the mountain, different branches are being drilled on both sides, a large number of tunnels are being built, and the inner walls are being poured with high-strength reinforced concrete.

Build fully shielded coastal artillery batteries, including 8 main batteries and three main batteries in the secondary fortress, which can accommodate the world's most advanced 343mm large-caliber coastal artillery, which is enough to scare any enemy away.

The so-called fully shielded turret is equivalent to an open turret.

The main fort was built in a cave, facing the main channel. It was built by drilling through the granite mountain, reinforced with reinforced concrete, and then covered with soil, rocks and grass.

The eight main gun batteries are divided into two floors, with three on top and five on the bottom. It is planned to install 8mm large-caliber coastal guns that pose a huge threat to top ironclad ships to block the main channel.

Besides
There are also three coastal artillery positions, equipped with coastal artillery with calibers ranging from 280 mm to 152 mm, together with bunker machine gun positions and permanent trenches, which together form a strict fortress artillery system.

The secondary fortress on the Seven Brothers Island faces northwest, mainly to control the enemy attacks from the European direction.

This, together with the main artillery fire and the Red Sea Fleet forces in Cape Bay Port, constitutes the main part of the "Natural Fortress".

In the third phase, the main part of the fortress exposed on the mountain will be built with large stones and covered with densely arranged reinforced concrete on the outside, which is more than two feet thick, forming a solid permanent fortress.

Since the beginning of April

The Tianqian Fortress has entered the second phase of intensive construction. The construction is expected to take 15 months, and the second phase of cave artillery fortifications will be completed before the end of June 1886.

东非公司为此投入的黑奴业已高达6600余人，缺100补100，缺1000补1000。无论如何要保证“天堑计划”按照时间节点建成。

No matter how much manpower is spent on this, it is worth it.

April 4, around 13: AM

Antananarivo, the capital of the Merina Kingdom
This is a city with a population of more than 4.2. There is a royal palace building with strong African characteristics in the city, and three totem poles stand tall in front of the building.

Totem poles are carved with rugged, ferocious figures of indigenous gods, wrapped in thick black manes that flutter in the wind. Within the city, there are dozens of buildings with distinctly European characteristics, as well as numerous adobe and wooden houses. This is a typical agricultural city, now caught in the midst of war.

Several blocks in the city were already burning fiercely, with flames rising into the sky. The sound of volleys of gunfire was like popping beans, one wave higher than the other.

Occasionally, the rumbling sound of artillery could be heard, the sound sounded crisp and loud. This was the typical small-caliber field artillery roaring, destroying the earthworks occupied by the enemy.

The advancing Chu soldiers walked in two columns, with a truck of a somewhat strange design in the middle. Two conical iron plates were welded to the front of the truck, and a rectangular iron plate was erected in the empty space in front of the driver.

There are also several long and narrow holes on the iron plate, allowing the driver to observe the situation ahead.

From time to time, stray bullets hit the iron plate, making a crisp and loud "crackling" sound, but failed to cause serious damage.

The truck rumbled along the dirt road. The Chu soldiers in the car pointed their guns outside. When they found some local indigenous warriors fleeing, they aimed and shot.

Black smoke was emitting from the ruined buildings, and a strong smell of blood was in the air. The ground was littered with corpses, most of whom were local indigenous soldiers and residents.

This was the main central army corps of the East African Expeditionary Force. After landing at the port of Tamatave on the east coast, the troops were divided into two groups, separated by more than ten kilometers, to carry out a dragnet sweep of the densely populated villages and towns around them.

After five days, they cleared out the enemy and killed their way through, and directly attacked the capital of the Merina Kingdom.

Any local natives who resisted were killed on the spot, and those who obeyed were escorted back. Young men and women were selected and escorted to the port in groups, where they were roughly stuffed into the cabins and then set off on the return journey.

The troop transport ship that carried 2200 soldiers on the way here could fit 6000 people on the return journey. They only had one meal a day, which was a kelp and grain steamed bun the size of a child's fist, just enough to ensure they didn't starve to death.

It is said that the returning fleet will bring back nearly 10 young indigenous men and women.

The indigenous population of the Merina Kingdom on the island of Madagascar do not have skin as dark as that of African blacks. Their facial features are more similar to those of the indigenous people of the Indies, similar to the yellow race.

Most of them are mixed blood of indigenous people from the Indian Archipelago and Arabs who drifted here, and a small number are mixed blood with blacks, so their skin is darker.

The indigenous people here came into contact with Portuguese and Spanish white colonists more than 400 years ago. In the past one or two hundred years, British and French colonists have arrived one after another, bringing with them a series of new things such as Western muskets, cultural education, and legal systems.

This made the Merina Kingdom more enlightened, and its civilization was more developed than those backward and ignorant black tribal regimes on the African continent.

In the early 19th century, Madagascar established a unified centralized Kingdom of Madagascar, absorbed European economic, technological and cultural influences, and began to evolve into a modern country.

Unfortunately, the time left for this indigenous kingdom was too short.

As early as 1821, the then King of Madagascar, Radama I, could not tolerate the ever-expanding colonial penetration of Western countries and issued an order prohibiting trade with Western countries and prohibiting citizens from believing in Christianity, which led to the invasion of the British and French coalition forces.

Anglo-French forces attempted to capture Madagascar but faced determined resistance and suffered a rare defeat.

Unfortunately, not long after

The iron-fisted queen of the Merina Kingdom died, and her son Radama II was a pro-Western monarch who signed free trade agreements with British and French colonists, which also laid the seeds for internal division.

The Sakalava and Merina people on the island rose up in opposition and directly overthrew King Radama II, who tragically died in the war. The kingdom fell into a period of turmoil for more than ten years.

The newly-elected Queen Razohrina abolished the free trade treaty as soon as she came to power, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the British and French colonists, and they threatened to use force.

At this moment, the Chu army suddenly attacked...

After several hours of fierce fighting

Tananarive, the capital of the Merina Kingdom, was completely captured. Chu soldiers, divided into teams of more than ten people, with bayonets fixed, launched a dragnet search throughout the city, driving all the men, women, and children into the streets.

It was inevitable that the soldiers would take advantage of the chaos to steal some gold, silver, jewelry, or other valuables.

Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy!

This was originally a small town with a population of more than 4. After experiencing the baptism of bloody battle, the armed rebels were immediately dragged to the street corner and were directly killed by the Chu army soldiers with sharp bayonets.

The brutal crackdown and killing continued until dusk, when it finally stopped. One-third of the city had suffered casualties, large areas of adobe and wooden houses were burned down, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood and gunpowder.

The remaining population was roughly separated into male and female, escorted out of the city, and forced to camp in the wasteland outside the city.

These captured people will be escorted to a coastal port more than 130 kilometers away, then stuffed into the cabin and followed by the returning fleet to the East African Company's territory.

These local natives were part of the captives handed over by Lieutenant General Pan Tianshou, the commander-in-chief of the war.

In the past few days, more than 100,000 captives have boarded the ship, mostly young indigenous men and women, and all the population of the capital, Antananarivo, has been killed.

Regardless of whether they were indigenous royals, prime ministers, or ministers, they were all suppressed.

The Chu State was very experienced in colonial expansion. The indigenous population living in the capital's big cities were the elites of the Merina Kingdom on the island of Madagascar. Many of them could speak English and French and had received Western education.

There are also some princes, nobles and chiefs, some powerful bureaucrats of the Merina Kingdom and wealthy landlords, who can be said to be the essence of this indigenous kingdom.

That is why they were all cleared out without leaving a single one.

Young and beautiful Aboriginal women were sold to the Chinese as wives and concubines, and strong Aboriginal men were either bought by Chinese farmers and ranchers, or sent to labor camps to engage in arduous work such as building roads and bridges, clearing land and building docks, or working in mines until the last moment of their lives.

The elites of these indigenous kingdoms are a nuisance if they remain, and it would be better to eliminate them early.

The Merina Kingdom is just a small indigenous country with a population of more than 300 million. It is about 440 kilometers away from the African continent, with a total area of ​​58 square kilometers. It is the largest island in Africa.

It is also the fourth largest island in the world. It faces Mozambique and German East Africa across the Mozambique Channel and has a unique geographical environment.

The massive invasion of the Chu State brought unspeakable damage to this island country that seemed like a paradise.

There were flames everywhere, and entire cities and large tracts of countryside were emptied of their populations.

By mid-November

Ten days after landing, the Chu expeditionary force, which had already occupied the main towns of Madagascar, successively welcomed a large number of Chinese militiamen, totaling more than 4 people, which further boosted their momentum.

Adding the two together, the total number of Chu's army and militia was about 7.33, and the full-scale military invasion of this indigenous kingdom resulted in about 770 casualties.

A dozen days later, it was the end of April.

More than 33 indigenous male and female captives were transported to the East African Company via large troop transports and cargo ships, causing casualties among the indigenous population of over .

In great terror, a large number of local indigenous people fled into the forest and needed further elimination.

The Chu military was very experienced in dealing with this situation.

After the East African Expeditionary Force gained a foothold in the local area, more than 4 armed militiamen occupied the main cities and villages, blocked almost all road passes, and escorted a large number of indigenous laborers to repair roads and bridges.

The army was divided into small groups, forming one armed mopping-up team after another. Most of them were company-sized with more than a hundred people. Each armed mopping-up team was equipped with 3 to 4 cavalrymen to quickly transmit messages.

A few more horse-drawn carriages were equipped to carry the weapons, food and other supplies needed by the armed mopping-up team, so that they could maintain combat effectiveness for more than ten days and thoroughly eliminate the remaining enemies.

at the same time
The first batch of Chinese immigrants from East African companies have arrived in Madagascar. Most of them are from the class who are not doing well in the local life.

As the saying goes, those who are close to the water get the moon first. These Chinese immigrants, like a school of sharks smelling blood, were the first to land on Madagascar Island and started the colonial feast.

The news that everything went well on Madagascar Island has been transmitted back to the mainland of Chu via the Eurasian long-distance telegram. A new batch of Chinese immigrants from the mainland will arrive in a month.

(End of this chapter)